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Baptised, 1831; Royal Naval School, New Cross; entered the Royal Navy, 1845; midshipman in HMS CANOPUS; joined the HAVANNAH on the Australian station, 1848-1851; mate on HMS RESOLUTE, part of the Franklin search expedition under Sir Edward Belcher, 1852-1854; returned to England, 1854; served for two years in the Mediterranean in the CONQUEROR; joined the staff of the training ship ILLUSTRIOUS, 1858; joined the BRITANNIA, 1859; commander of the training ship BOSCAWEN, 1863; appointment to the paddle steamer SALAMANDER on the east coast of Australia, 1865; commander of the NEWPORT for hydrographical work in the Mediterranean, which included a survey of the Gulf of Suez via the Suez Canal, 1868; further hydrographical work in the SHEARWATER, 1871-1872; captain of HMS CHALLENGER, on a voyage of circumnavigation devoted to oceanographic exploration, 1872-1874; led the British Arctic expedition of 1875-1876, in the vessels ALBERT and DISCOVERY; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society , 1875; RGS Founder's medal, 1877; command of the ALERT during the survey of the Strait of Magellan, 1878; harbour department of the Board of Trade, 1879-1896; retired from active service, 1886; died, 1915.

Publications: The Naval Cadet's Guide (1860)
A Voyage to the Polar Sea (1878).

G.S. Nares entered the Navy in 1845 and served as a midshipman in the Havannah, flagship on the Australian Station, and in her tender, the Bramble. He specialized in surveying, becoming a lieutenant in 1854 and a captain in 1869. In 1872 he was chosen to command the Challenger on her voyage round the world, the first major oceanographic expedition. He then led the Arctic Expedition of 1875 to 1876. He became a rear-admiral in 1887 and a vice-admiral in 1892. See M.B. Deacon, Ann Savours and Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith, 'Sir George Strong Nares 1831-1915' (Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, 1976).

No information was available at the time of compilation.

Born 1922; educated Newtown School, Waterford, and Trinity College, Dublin; Demonstrator in Civil Engineering, Trinity College, Dublin; Assistant Engineer with K.D.C Group on Phoenix Caissons for Mulberry Harbour, 1943-1944; Factory Engineer, Messrs Johnson Brothers, Ireland, 1944; Junior Science Officer, Soil Mechanics Division, Road Research Laboratory, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1944-1946; Lecturer, 1946-1951, Reader, 1951-1961 and Professor of Civil Engineering, 1961-1981, King's College London; Head of Civil Engineering Department, King's College London, 1971-[1981]; Assistant Principal, King's College London, 1973-1977; Consultant to Nigerian Government on engineering education in Nigeria, 1963; Soil Mechanics Consultant on Kainji Dam, Nigeria, and various earth and rock-fill dams in Nigeria, Jordan, Israel, Cyprus, Portugal, Greece, Sudan, Britain and Ireland, 1961-1969; expert witness for National Coal Board at Aberfan Tribunal, 1966-1967, and for British Petroleum (BP) at the Sea Gem Enquiry, 1967; Consultant for foundations of London Bridge and Humber Bridge; Chairman, British Geotechnical Society, 1959-1961; Member of the Council, Institution of Civil Engineers, 1959-1968; Secretary-General, International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, 1967-1981; Chairman, Editorial Panel of Geotechnique, 1960-1966; Fellow of King's College London, 1972; Governor, Leighton Park School, Reading, 1974; died 1981.

Publications: Civil engineering (Robert Hale, London, 1957); The elements of soil mechanics in theory and practice (Constable and Co, London, 1951).

Paul Nash was born in London on 11 May 1889, son of William Harry Nash, late Recorder of Abingdon. He was educated at St. Paul's School, and originally was going to join the Navy. His earliest artistic training was at the Chelsea Polytechnic and the L.C.C. school, he then went to the Slade School of Art. In 1914, shortly after marrying Margaret Theodosia Odeh, he enlisted in The Artists Rifles, where he received a commission in the Hampshire Regiment. Though he had exhibited drawings in 1911, Nash first came into prominence in June 1917, when during convalescence from a broken rib received in the trenches he showed at the Goupil Gallery a collection of landscape drawings made in the Ypres Salient. They made a huge impact, and when Nash returned to France it was as an official war artist.After that Nash developed rapidly with changes of style and medium, but always retaining the same general attitude to nature from simplified forms, through geometrical shapes to surrealist images. Nash also acted as a designer for industry using a wide range of crafts and materials - textiles, wood, glass, china, book production, posters and stage design and costumes. His ideas on modernity in design were put into practice with the foundation in 1933 of 'Unit One'; a group of painters, sculptors, and architects pledged to the expression of the contemporary spirit in their work. For a time Nash was a member of of the New English Art Club, the London Group, the London Artists' Association, the Modern English Watercolour Society, and the International Society of Wood-engravers, but when 'Unit One' was formed he resigend from all other groups and societies. In 1933, he was elected a member of the Council for Art and Industry, having been president of the Society of Industrial Artists in the previous year. He was also visiting instructor to the School of Design at the Royal College of Art. In 1940 Nash was appointed an official war artist to the Air Ministry, and in 1941 to the Ministry of Information. Paul Nash died on 11 July 1946.

Dorothea Nasmyth (nee Maude) was a General Practitioner who wrote a diary of her experiences during the First World War.

The Nassau Phosphate of Lime Company was based at 4 Lothbury.

Colonel Frederick Nathan joined the Royal Artillery in 1879 and in 1886 took up an appointment at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. Colonel Nathan worked in the explosives industry.

Nathan and Rosselli, a firm of stockbrokers, was formed by the partnership of David Nathan (b.1839) and Joseph Rosselli (1860-1930) in 1888. It grew into one of the leading houses doing arbitrage business in New York and Europe. It later specialised in fixed interest securities and US stocks.

The firm was based at initially at 3 Adams Court (1888-95), and subsequently at 7 Adam Court (1895-1958) and 16 Old Broad Street (1958-65). In 1961 it merged with Gordon L Jacobs and Company, but continued to practice as Nathan and Rosselli. In 1965 it merged with James Capel and Company, under whose name the resulting firm was known.

The Nation Life and General Assurance Company Ltd was registered on 22 April 1925 and commenced trading on 29 May 1925. The company's registered office was Nation House, Hampton Road, Teddington, Middlesex, but it opened branches in central London and the provinces, including Manchester and Liverpool. The company was set up to acquire the England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland business of the New Ireland Assurance Company Ltd. It provided fire, industrial and ordinary life and general branch insurance. It also owned a controlling interest in the Tabulating and Mechanical Accounting Service Ltd. The company's name was changed to the Fordham Life and General Assurance Company Ltd between August 1969 and October 1970, when it was again changed to the Nation Life Insurance Company Ltd. The Company was liquidated in 1974.

The National Treatment Outcome Research Study (NTORS) project was conducted 1995-2000 to gather information in England and Wales about the treatment outcomes of more than a thousand problem drug users who were recruited into 54 residential or community treatment programmes. It was conducted by the The National Addiction Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry and funded by the Department of Health.

The Substance Misuse Advisory Service (SMAS) was set up, following the review of the Health Advisory Service in 1996, to replace the Drug Advisory
Service. SMAS became operational on 1 Oct 1997 and was a three year, centrally-funded project by the consortium which assumed responsibility for the Health Advisory Service (the Royal College of Psychiatry, the British Geriatric Society and the Office of Public Management). The aim of SMAS was to assist health and local authorities in England in developing their commissioning practice and improving the quality of drug and alcohol treatment services available. It eventually became part of the National Treatment Agency.

The National Advisory Centre on Careers for Women (1933-1995) was founded in 1933. During the First World War, the London National Society for Women's Suffrage opened a Women's Service Department to find openings for volunteer workers as well as taking the lead in training women for war work. At the end of the war the parent organisation became the London National Society for Women's Service (LNSWS), and the section became the Women's Employment Department, continuing its work until 1922. It concentrated on the problems of women left unemployed by the returning male workers. The Carnegie Trust, which funded its activities for a time, made attempts to integrate it with the Central Bureau for the Employment of Women, but this failed and the department closed due to financial problems. In 1933, this function was largely taken over by a new group called, initially the National Federation of Organisations Concerned with the Employment and Training of Women, soon renamed the Women's Employment Federation. It maintained close connections with the LNSWS, and shared premises with them until 1939 with the LNSWS president Ray Strachey as its first organising secretary. It too was funded by the Carnegie Trust but this time its object was to co-ordinate the work of organisations dealing with women's employment, to prevent overlapping and to assist each in its individual work by offering opportunities for consultation and co-operation between them. The constituent organisations were all concerned with the employment and training of women, such as: the Association of Assistant Mistresses, the Association of Head Mistresses, the Midwives Institute, the National Association of Women Pharmacists, the Council of Women Civil Servants, as well as women's schools and universities. Between them they decided on the election of the executive committee and the policies of the group. The group contained an Advisory Department that collected information on careers and openings that were then available to members and the public, as well as organising advice, publications and speakers. Between 1935 and 1940 it received an average of 3816 enquiries annually and in 1939 was asked to compile a national register of women workers. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the group moved to Bedford College. When its main organiser, Ray Strachey, died in 1940, others took over the work and it was her friend, Irene Hilton, that remained the Federation's organisation secretary from 1948 until 1971, when it became the National Advisory Centre on Careers for Women. This remained its name until 1991 when it became Careers for Women. It ceased operating in 1995.

The Union was founded in 1906 as the Eastern Counties Agricultural Labourers and Smallholders Union. Its objects were to enable the agricultural labourer to secure 'proper representation on all local bodies...protection from political persecution and better conditions of living', and by 1910 it had 4000 members. In 1912 the name was changed to the National Agricultural Labourers' and Rural Workers' Union. It had 180,000 members by 1920 and the name was changed yet again, to the National Union of Agricultural Workers. It became the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers (NUAAW) in 1968 in recognition of its interest in industries ancillary to agriculture. In 1981 the NUAAW amalgamated with the Transport and General Workers Union.

The National Amalgamated Approved Society was formed in 1912, under the provision of the 1911 National Insurance Act by which industrial assurance companies or friendly societies could set up an "approved society" to administer statutory benefits. The National Amalgamated Approved Society was a joint venture between a number of Offices: Albion Friendly Society, Britannia Assurance Company Limited, British Legal and United Provident Assurance Company Limited, London and Manchester Industrial Assurance Company Limited, City Life Assurance Company Limited, Hearts of Oak Life and General Assurance Company Limited, Pearl Assurance Company Limited, Pioneer Life Assurance Company Limited, Refuge Assurance Company Limited, and Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited. Each Office was represented on the Committee of Management.

The Society ceased to exist in 1948 under the terms of the 1946 National Insurance Act which abolished approved societies. The Society had offices at 30, Euston Square, NW1.

The National Amateur Rowing Association was founded in 1890 to cater for the large number of working class men who were prevented from joining the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA) by virtue of their manual occupations. (According to the interpretation of ARA rules these men were to be considered professionals).

This definition of "amateur" was finally resolved in the 1920's and in 1930 NARA was reconstituted, its objectives being "to foster and encourage amateur rowing and to watch over and generally protect its interests" (Articles of Association 1930). In 1939 NARA was incorporated as a non-profit making company. From about 1929 discussions took place with ARA about the possibility of meeting to form one governing body and in 1956 it was proposed to call it the British Amateur Rowing Association. NARA was dissolved in June of that year.

Many regional associations (including the Thames Amateur Rowing Association, see A/NAR/50-52) and rowing clubs were affiliated to NARA and around 90 regattas a year followed NARA rules.

Charles Bernard Stanley Tugwell: Charles Tugwell was honorary secretary of NARA for over 25 years and devoted much of his life to rowing. He was appointed National Organiser for Rowing during the short-lived National Fitness Campaign (1937-1939). At the outbreak of war the NFC was suspended and Tugwell was left unemployed. The Times (his previous employers) were unable to offer him a job and during the war he worked for the Ministry of Labour, Foreign Office and for a short time, the Red Cross. He died in Spring 1957.

The British National Antarctic or Discovery Expedition of 1901-1904 was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since James Clark Ross's voyage, 1839-1843. It was organised by a joint committee of the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and it aimed to carry out scientific research and geographical exploration. Its scientific results covered extensive ground in biology, zoology, geology, meteorology and magnetism and King Edward VII Land, and the Polar Plateau via the western mountains route were discovered. The expedition did not make a serious attempt on the South Pole, its principal southern journey reaching a Furthest South at 82°17'S.

The British National Antarctic or Discovery Expedition of 1901-1904
was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since James Clark Ross's voyage, 1839-1843. It was organised by a joint committee of the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and it aimed to carry out scientific research and geographical exploration. Its scientific results covered extensive ground in biology, zoology, geology, meteorology and magnetism and King Edward VII Land, and the Polar Plateau via the western mountains route were discovered. The expedition did not make a serious attempt on the South Pole, its principal southern journey reaching a Furthest South at 82°17'S.

The National Association for the Prevention of Consumption and other forms of Tuberculosis (NAPC) was founded in 1899. The aims were the education of public opinion and the stimulation of individual initiative, influencing central and local government, and the establishment of local branches. The name changed to the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis (NAPT) in 1919. The Association's activities included propaganda, health education, training, funding research, conferences, lectures, exhibitions, touring caravans, and producing publications. It also supported the establishment of sanatoria, dispensaries and care committees around the UK and abroad.

The Association offered grants to individual sufferers from 1928. Individual committees examined issues such as mass radiography, and sanatorium design and construction. An appeal to establish a Farm Colony for discharged tuberculous servicemen, started in 1917, and Burrow Hill Colony was established at Frimley in Surrey in 1918 and closed in 1943; the Burrow Hill Training Fund to train men and boys in suitable occupations was inaugurated in the 1950s. The Queen Alexandra Sanatorium Fund and allied Funds were transferred to the NAPT in 1954. The Spero Fund (previously the Central Fund for the Industrial Welfare of Tuberculous Persons) appointed the NAPT to take over administration in the early 1950s. Due to a decline in Tuberculosis, the words 'and Diseases of the Chest and Heart' were added to the Association's name in 1956. The name changed again to the Chest and Heart Association for the Conquest of Chest and Heart Diseases through Research, Education and Treatment, commonly known as the Chest and Heart Association (CHA) in 1958. The Volunteer Stroke Service was established by the Association in the 1970s. The name changed to The Chest, Heart and Stroke Association in 1975. The Association decided to focus exclusively on the area of stroke, working to reduce the effect of stroke on patients, their families, carers and the community, and changed its name to The Stroke Association in 1992.

No further information available at present.

The National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts (1869-1886) was established in 1869. In the 1840s there was an upsurge in concern with prostitution in the United Kingdom. Evangelical Christians, socialists and chartists all condemned the industry and moral campaigns were established to suppress vice. However, only after 1857's Royal Commission report on the health of the army and a follow-up report on the level of venereal disease in the military five years later did official tolerance of prostitution came to an end as the question became fused with contemporary concerns over public health. The result was three successive decrees in 1864, 1866 and 1869 known as the Contagious Diseases (referred to as the CD) Acts. By these, in certain towns containing military bases, any woman suspected of being a prostitute could be stopped and forced to undergo a genital inspection to discover if she had a venereal disease. If she did not submit willingly, she could be arrested and brought before a magistrate. If she was found to be infected, she could be effectively imprisoned in a 'lock' hospital. After the 1869 Social Sciences congress where the CD Acts were raised and condemned, a number of individuals established the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act, originally under the title of the National Anti-Contagious Diseases Act Extension Association. An Executive Committee was elected which included Mr Robert Charlton as Treasurer and Frederick Banks as secretary with the Rev. Dr. Hoopell and Dr Worth as honorary secretaries. No women were originally included in the organisation, and though many later joined, this initial omission led to the formation of the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act under Josephine Butler. Local branches were rapidly set up, particularly in the north of England and the Midlands. The following year, the NARCDA set up the journal 'The Shield' to promote their work. In the summer of 1870, the organisation merged with the Metropolitan Anti-Contagious Diseases Acts Association after a joint conference to form a London-based group better placed to influence parliamentary opinion. The new body continued under the name of the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act and by 1886 had around five hundred branches. In 1887 the decision was taken to dissolve the group, a year after the 1886 repeal of the acts, though it was not finally wound up until 1890.

The National Association of Labour Teachers (NALT) acted as a pressure group and a forum for debate on educational issues through its annual conferences, regional meetings and publications. The NALT was renamed the Socialist Educational Association (SEA) in 1961.

Significant studies of the work of the NALT have been made by several researchers and copies of their dissertations are included with the records (see A/NLT/06/14,15).

The National Association of Pension Funds is the principal body representing occupational pension funds and those managing pension funds in the UK.

The origin of the NAPF is a grouping known as the Conference of Superannuation Funds, formed in 1917, which sought exemption from tax on the investment returns made by pension funds and from income tax for employees' contributions. The recommendations made by its members to the Royal Commission on Income Tax in 1918 led to the tax exemptions granted in the 1921 Finance Act. The Association of Superannuation and Pension Funds was subsequently formed in 1923 and the name changed to National Association of Pension Funds in 1967. Since the mid 1970s the NAPF has increased the range of its activities including regularly lobbying on legislative and regulatory changes.

In addition the NAPF has promoted courses, conferences and publications. It has also played a role in the corporate governance of companies. Although the core membership has always been drawn from companies that sponsor pension schemes, various categories of associate membership have been encouraged, resulting in the ready availability, within the Association, of a wide range of technical knowledge and influence.

(Company limited by guarantee and not having share capital).

Offices: Cheapside House, 138 Cheapside, City of London (in 2013).

Founded in 1920 as the Oil and Oilseed Brokers' Association, the National Association of United Kingdom Oil and Oilseed Brokers aimed to represent the interests of the trade generally, and specifically by the introduction of uniform contracts, rates of commission and bills of lading. Based at Baltic Exchange Chambers, 24 St. Mary Axe, it transferred the responsibility for its routine office work and administration to United Associations Ltd. (CLC/B/103-12) in 1923. The Association had branches in London, Liverpool and Hull (the latter known as the Hull Oil and Seed Brokers' Association until 1939) and was renamed the National Association of United Kingdom Oil and Oilseed Brokers in 1939. In 1971 it became part of the Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fat Associations.

The National Association of Women Civil Servants (1932-1959) was established in 1932, after a major reorganisation of the Civil Service took place. Grades that had been structured around each department were now merged across the entire service to form four basic bands. Additionally, efforts to introduce arbitration and militated for what would become Whitley Councils for the negotiation of pay and conditions had taken place in which most of the civil service trades unions had been involved. However, the report presented by the official Joint Reorganisation Committee maintained that there should be a separate selection process for women that did not involve the traditional male recruitment method of examination and lower wages for women working in the same grades as men. The Federation of Women Civil Servants had opposed this and when the mixed gender unions failed to support their position, the Federation withdrew from the staff side of the Council as well as from the Civil Service Alliance, losing its seat in the Whitley in the process. The group found itself weakened as members left for larger mixed unions that were better represented on the Whitley Councils. Along with the Association of Women Clerks & Secretaries, it found itself in crisis and the resulting situation led to the amalgamation of the two in 1932 the creation of the National Association of Women Civil Servants. The aims of this new organisation were to campaign for financial equality with male civil servants and to gain recognition for women who were not members of the general grade-based organisations. In the 1920s and 1930s they were closely involved with the campaign for equal pay and consequently had close links with the London and National Society for Women's Service. The group was represented on the Joint Committee of Women in the Civil Service at this time. In the early thirties, they were responsible for a number of public rallies and meetings on the issue as well as presenting evidence to the Royal Commission on the Civil Service in 1929-31. In the same decade they published a journal, Opportunity, which continued until 1940. In 1938 they joined with the Association of Ex-Service Civil Servants to form the Federation of Civil Servants. Chaired by Dorothy Evans, they remained active on the issue of equal pay in the Civil Service into the next decade and were represented on the Equal Pay Campaign Committee after the Second World War. The group also presented evidence to the Royal Commission on Equal Pay which was held after the war as well as holding an investigation of recruitment of the over-40s in the 1950s. However, their influence waned as women continued to join mixed gender unions. The process of dissolution was begun in 1958, there was a resolution on 25 Mar 1959 and this ended with the winding up of the group in 1961.

Established in Calcutta in 1863 as Calcutta City Banking Corporation, changing name in 1864 to the National Bank of India. The bank was an Indian registered company, promoted by British and Indian businessmen. Its business included discounting bills and notes, dealing in exchange, and lending on security of real and personal property and securities. The bank did much to finance India's external trade in indigo, tea and coffee.

In 1866 its head office was transferred to London (where it had established a branch in 1864) and a British registered company of the same name was incorporated to acquire the business. The Indo-Egyptian Bank, based in Bombay, was acquired in the early 1860s and its office became the bank's Bombay branch. Branches were established in Hong Kong, 1869, Shanghai 1875, Madras 1877, Colombo 1881, Karachi 1884, Rangoon 1886, Zanzibar 1893, Mombasa 1896 and Nairobi 1904. By 1900 the bank had 19 branches and the balance sheet total had grown from £328,736 in 1864 to over £9.5 million. Capital and reserves stood at £850,000 and the staff numbered 800. In 1920 the projected acquisition by Lloyds Bank Limited was disallowed.

The entire share capital of Grindlays Bank Limited (bankers and agents connected with India since 1826) was acquired from National Provincial Bank Limited in 1948. The Eastern branches of Lloyds Bank Limited were absorbed in 1961 and 1965 the bank acquired a two thirds interest in Brandts Limited (merchant bankers), the remaining third being acquired in 1972. This company was subsequently known as Grindlays Brandts Limited. In 1958 Grindlays business was totally absorbed and name changed to National Overseas and Grindlays Bank Limited, then to National and Grindlays Bank Limited in 1959. In 1969 the London group business of the Ottoman Bank was acquired. Name changed to Grindlays Bank Limited in 1975. The bank was acquired by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited in 1984.

From 'Company Archives - The Survey of the Records of 100 of the First Registered Companies in England and Wales', Lesley Richmond and Bridget Stockford.

The National Bank of Malawi was formed in 1971 when in July of that year the Standard Bank of Malawi and the Barclays Bank of Malawi merged. The two banks holding a 51 per cent share of the new company. Gradually both the Standard Bank and Barclays Bank reduced their holdings until neither had any interest remaining.

The society was formed in 1916 by an amalgamation of the Watch and Clock Makers' Benevolent Institution (established 1815, of 35 Northampton Square); the Watch and Clock Makers' Pension Society (established 1817, of 35 Northampton Square) and the Clock and Watch Makers' Asylum (of Waterfall Road, New Southgate). The society maintained an office at 35 Northampton Square until c.1940 though it also took over the Clock and Watch Makers' Asylum (usually known subsequently as "the Homestead").

1877 Malthusian League founded; 1921 Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress (CBC), founded by Marie Stopes and Mothers' Clinic opened; 1922 Walworth Women's Welfare Centre opened; 1924 Society for Provision of Birth Control Clinics (SPBCC) founded; North Kensington Women's Welfare Centre opened (Walworth also run by SPBCC); Workers' Birth Control Group founded; May 1924 Deputation to John Wheatley, Minister of Health; 1927 Birth Control Investigation Committee (BCIC) founded [Chairman, Sir Humphrey Rolleston, Hon Medical Secretary, Dr C.P. Blacker] and established International Medical Group to investigate birth control in other countries; 1929 Birth Control International Information Centre (BCIIC) founded [President, Margaret Sanger]; Jul 1930 Ministry of Health Memorandum 153 MCW 'Birth Control' issued permitting contraceptive advice to be given in local authority maternal and infant welfare clinics to women for whom another pregnancy would be dangerous; National Birth Control Council (NBCC) founded. Premises at 26 Eccleston Street; Workers' Birth Control Group joined NBCC; 1931 Birth Control Investigation Committee joined NBCC; Jul 1931 NBCC changed name to National Birth Control Association (NBCA); 1933 Resignation of Dr Marie Stopes from Governing Body; 1934 Ministry of Health circular 1408 extends grounds on which local authority clinics can give advice; Feb 1937 Deputation to Sir Kingsley Wood, Minister of Health; 1938 Society for Provision of Birth Control Clinics and Birth Control International Information Centre amalgamated with NBCA; Feb 1938 NBCA moved to 69 Eccleston Square [HQ of Eugenics Society]; Feb 1939 Dissolution of BCIC. Replaced by Scientific Advisory Committee; May 1939 NBCA changed name to Family Planning Association (FPA) and introduces new constitution; 1947 FPA branches grouped into regional federations; Oct 1949 FPA moved to 64 Sloane Street; 1954 Death of Lady Denman, chairman; succeeded by Mrs Margaret Pyke; 1955 FPA Silver Jubilee, Lady Denman Memorial Fund established to provide clinics in rural areas, First official visit by Minister of Health [Iain Macleod]; Jul 1957 Oliver Bird Trust founded and established Council for Investigation of Fertility Control (CIFC); Oct 1957 Publication of The Human Sum [for FPA Silver Jubilee]; 1959 FPA Holdings Ltd incorporated, BBC Appeal by Bishop of Southwark, Birthright film premiere; 1960 Organisation Working Party established [Chairman, Professor François Lafitte, Birmingham University]; 1962 Family Planning International Campaign [later `Countdown'] launched; Feb 1963 FPA moved to 231 Tottenham Court Road; Sep 1963 Family Planning in the Sixties Report of Organisation Working Party published; 1965 Re-organisation of FPA branches. 500 clinics grouped into 52 branches, Press and Information Department established, Theodore Fox appointed as director; Oct 1965 Interim National Council established; 1966 FPA incorporated as a company, Margaret Pyke Memorial Trust established, 1967 National Health Service (Family Planning) Act extends conditions under which birth control can be provided, FPA Holdings Ltd disbanded; Jun 1967 National Council formally established; 1968 Caspar Brook appointed as director; Oct 1968 FPA moved to 27-35 Mortimer Street; Apr 1970 Oliver Bird Trust/CIFC wound up. Remaining funds to Margaret Pyke Memorial Trust to continue annual lectures; Jun 1970 1000th clinic opened at Thamesmead, London; 1974 NHS Act fully incorporates birth control services into the National Health Service; 1975 Most FPA clinics handed over to NHS Area Health Authorities.

The National Birthday Trust Fund (NBTF) was established in 1928 and campaigned in the 1930s for the wider provision of analgesia in childbirth and improvements in midwifery services. Through the Joint Council on Midwifery it conducted extensive surveys on the benefits of ante-natal care and nutrition and an important survey of abortion practice (the collection includes the completed questionnaire forms). After the war it contributed to several government reports on maternity provision, provided research grants for various projects connected with congenital defects and maternity services, and conducted a series of surveys, including a survey into premature births (for which there are completed questionnaires). These culminated in the Perinatal Mortality Survey in 1958, which formed the basis for the cohort studies of the development of the children at seven year intervals. The collection includes the administrative records for the Perinatal Mortality Survey and the similar study, the British Births Survey, 1970. In 1993 the NBTF was amalgamated with the charity Birthright which works in the same area of maternal and infant care.

The National Book League was founded in 1944 and later became the National Book Council.

The National Campaign for the Arts (NCA) is the only independent lobbying organisation that represents all the arts. The campaign is funded entirely by its members to ensure its independence. It gives a voice for the arts world in all its diversity. The membership of the campaign includes nearly five hundred organisations of every size and variety. These include major theatre, opera and dance companies, national visual arts and museums organisations, writers' groups, local authorities, dance and drama schools, film and TV companies, friends' groups, unions, arts centres, local galleries and small scale companies. The National Campaign for the Arts meets, lobbies and influences decision makers, and discusses policy and proposals in detail with major arts funders. The NCA was established in 1985 when two lobbying organisations - the National Lobby for the Arts (NLA) and British Arts Voice (BRAVO) - joined forces. It was formed as a company limited by guarantee, owing to the political nature of its work, but established the charity National Campaign for the Arts Research and Education Ltd (NCARE) in 2000 to develop the organisation's education work.

In December 1945 the Education Board for the Heating and Ventilating Industry set up a committee to look into the possibility of establishing a National School for the Heating and Ventilating Industries. This was in response to the Percy Report which recommended that National Schools associated with certain industries should be established. In 1946, with the agreement of the National Association of Heating, Ventilating and Domestic Engineering Employers, discussions were opened with the Ministry of Education on the establishment of a National School. These proposals were well received and in January 1947 a memorandum, drawn up by the Ministry on National Colleges and financial arrangements, were discussed by the Ministry and the Board. It was agreed that Industry should pay £50 per student per session with a guaranteed minimum of £1000 per year. The National Association also agreed to this and in April 1947 it was decided that a National College for Heating and Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering be formed within the Borough Polytechnic. The agreement of the London County Council was secured in November 1947 and the first meeting of the Board of Governors of the newly established National College for Heating, Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering was held on 20 January 1948 at the Borough Polytechnic.

The first Chair of Governors was Hubert Secretan and there were representatives from the three industries on the Board of Governors. There were high hopes for the new College and the third annual report of the Education Board for the Heating and Ventilating Industry hoped 'it will be the centre for the highest grade of technological training for the industry and will be in close contact with the most up-to-date development and research' (NC/7/2/3). The College existed to meet the needs of the industries and had two principal aims: to provide a high standard of technological training and to undertake research.

In its first session, commencing in September 1948, the College offered full-time Diploma courses in the three industries: Heating and Ventilating Engineering, Refrigeration Engineering and Fan Engineering. The College also offered part-time day or evening refresher courses for those employed in industry. Courses led to diplomas after full-time study for two terms, and later one year, or an Associateship of the National College with post graduate or post HND entry.

The College was, from its inception, closely linked with the Borough Polytechnic. Its premises were located within the grounds of the Borough Polytechnic Annexe and the College used the facilities of the Polytechnic for teaching ancillary subjects. Before the National College was established the Polytechnic had become the principal college in heating and ventilating engineering in London. A lecturer in heating and ventilating engineering had been appointed in 1917 for evening courses and after World War 1 part-time day classes were introduced. At first, the college was heavily dependent on service teaching from other departments of Borough Polytechnic, especially mechanical engineering, mathematics and humanities, but began to widen its work by undertaking research.

The College was given a logo of a shield divided into four, representing the three industries and the Borough Polytechnic. It also had a motto, 'e tribus unum', meaning 'one from three'.

In the 1950s the accommodation within the Borough Polytechnic was too small to allow the continued expansion of student numbers and to undertake research. The Ministry of Education agreed to cover the costs of the building and industry donated money to purchase new equipment. The new building on Southwark Bridge Road (now the Faraday Wing) was opened to students in September 1960.

By the 1960s government policy had moved away from National Colleges which taught a limited syllabus. The Ministry of Education preferred Technical Education Institutions to provide a broader education than covered by the National Colleges and in 1964 it began discussions with the National College on its future. It was proposed that the National College become a department of the Borough Polytechnic.

In September 1970 the National College amalgamated with the Borough Polytechnic, Brixton School of Building and City of Westminster College to become the Polytechnic of the South Bank. In effect, the National College became the Polytechnic's Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology.

The College was founded in 1946 by the Department of Education as the National College of Horology following the recommendations of the Percy Committee report. This provided for the establishment of National Colleges for industries of high importance requiring small numbers of skilled technicians. The new colleges were to be located within existing technical colleges which already provided tuition in the specialist subject and were to be fully financed by Government. Northampton Polytechnic was a natural centre for the College being situated in the traditional area for watch and clock making and having had a Department of Horology since its inception. Instrument Technology was incorporated into the title of the College before it was finally established, and new buildings were provided at the Polytechnic financed by the Department of Education. The College was operational from October 1947 and ceased functioning as a separate entity in 1960 when the Polytechnic became a College of Advanced Technology (CAT) with higher entrance requirements. The final student intake was in 1957 and its courses were absorbed into the relevant CAT department.

No information available at present.

In 1990, Sir Claus Moser gave the Presidential Address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in which he drew attention to the need for 'an overall review of the education and training scene: a review which would be visionary about the medium and long-term future facing our children and this country; treating the system in all its inter-connected parts; and last, but not least, considering the changes in our working and labour market scenes.' His call for a Royal Commission was rejected by the government. Instead, the National Commssion on Education was established as an independent body set up in July 1991 under the auspices of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and with sponsorship from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Its remit was to consider all phases of education and training throughout the whole of the United Kingdom and to identify and examine key issues arising over the next 25 years. The Commission's terms of reference were: 'In the light of the opportunities and challenges that will face the United Kingdom in a changing world over the next 25 years, to identify and consider key issues arising from: the definition of educational goals and assessment of the potential demand for education and training, in order to meet the economic and social requirements of the country and the needs and aspirations of people throughout their lives; and the definition of policies and practical means whereby opportunities to satisfy that demand may be made available for all, bearing in mind the implications for resources and institutions and for all of those involves in the education and training system; and to report its conclusions and recommendations in such manner as it may think fit.' The Commission identified seven key issues and established working groups, consisting of two Commission and two external members, to look into each of them: 1. Effective schooling 2. Schools, society and citizenship 3. The teaching profession and quality 4. Higher and further education in the twenty-first century 5. Preparing for work today and tomorrow 6. Better ways of learning 7. Resources It also undertook a wide variety of other activities including seminars, formal and informal discussion meetings, surveys, lectures and visits. It gathered advice and opinion from individuals and organisations by means of written and oral evidence, commissioned new research and analysed existing statistics and literature. Several prominent educationists and other public figures served on the Commission. The Commissioners were: John Walton, Lord Walton of Detchant, House of Lords (Chairman); John Raisman, British Telecom (Deputy Chairman); John Cassels, National Economic Development Office (Director); Averil Burgess, South Hampstead High School; Betty Campbell, Mount Stuart Primary School, Cardiff; David Giachardi, Courtaulds plc; Christopher Johnson, Lloyds Bank; Helena Kennedy, Barrister; Alistair MacFarlane, Heriot Watt University; Margaret Maden, County Education Officer, Warwickshire; Claus Moser, Wadham College, Oxford; Jenny Shackleton, Wirral Metropolitan College; Richard Staite, Beeslack High School, Penicuik, Lothian; Jeff Thompson, University of Bath; David Watson, Brighton Polytechnic; Peter Wickens, Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd.

Formerly the National Committee for the Promotion of the Break Up of the Poor Law. Arthur Balfour (1848-1930), Prime Minister 1902-1905, set up a Royal Commission under Lord George Hamilton (1845-1927) to look into the Poor Law of 1832. The Act was considered to be too severe, it was no longer universally applied and was open to abuse. The Local Government Act of 1929 established a revised approach to the conditions of the poor.

The National Conference of Industrial Assurance Approved Societies was formed in 1913, by the industrial assurance companies and collecting societies who had formed non-profitmaking "approved societies" to administer the 1911 National Insurance Act. The Conference met to consider the Offices' experience of National Insurance administration, and changes that could be recommended to the Insurance Commissioners. Under the 1946 National Insurance Act, approved societies were abolished, and the records of the Conference cease in 1948. The Conference does not appear to have held permanent offices; correspondence being directed as appropriate to the individual offices of Conference office-holders.

The National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) was founded by journalist Ronald Kidd in 1934 to protect and promote civil liberties and human rights. NCCL's activity in the field of gay rights has been focussed on discrimination in the criminal law and employment rights. NCCL supported the implementation of the Wolfenden Committee's recommendation for the decriminalisation of homosexual activity, and developed links with the Homosexual Law Reform Society, the Albany Trust, and later the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. Gay issues were included in NCCL newsletters and conference resolutions, and a NCCL pamphlet, Privacy under attack, included a section on the private rights of individuals. Two surveys into discrimination in the workplace were undertaken in the 1970s, the first into the policies of London Education Authorities and the second into the attitudes of Social Services Committees, both of which revealed prejudice against gay staff. NCCL also submitted evidence to the criminal Law Reform Committee on Sexual Offences in 1976, and produced a pamphlet Homosexuality and the law in 1978. NCCL was relaunched as Liberty in 1989.

The National Council for Jews in the former Soviet Union was founded in 1975 under the name of the National Council for Soviet Jewry. Before then various groups had acted on behalf of Soviet Jews. Individuals too had spoken out in defence of Soviet Jews. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Board of Deputies had tried to present a coordinated response on behalf of all these groups in the 1970s, but the Board came to realise that an independent agency was required to do this work. A conference was held for Soviet Jewry groups and activists in December 1975 and there the National Council was established.

The mandate of the National Council for Soviet Jewry was not to replace the existing Soviet Jewry groups but rather to act as an umbrella body for them; to coordinate and promote action. The Council had two major concerns; firstly to defend the rights of Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel; secondly to secure the betterment of Jewish life for Jews within the Soviet Union (especially the cultural, religious and educational aspects). Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and well into the 1980s Jews who attempted to establish a Jewish culture and identity within the USSR, for instance by teaching Hebrew or Jewish history, suffered repression. Those Soviet Jews who applied for permission to settle in Israel and who were refused visas became known as "refuseniks". Refuseniks and other Jewish activists were frequently singled out by Soviet authorities as anti-Soviet troublemakers; many lost their jobs, were arrested, tried and imprisoned. The National Council aimed, in conjunction with Soviet Jewry Groups in other countries, to draw attention to their difficulties.

The National Council was made up of delegates nominated from the major British Jewry bodies (such as the Board of Deputies; the United Synagogue; the Central British Fund for World Jewish Relief) and Soviet Jewry groups within the United Kingdom. The Council met regularly and appointed Committees to undertake the day to day running of the movement. The Council worked closely with its affiliated groups and supporters and organised some very public campaigns on behalf of refuseniks. On a quieter level it encouraged rabbis, community leaders and other Anglo-Jewish groups to make individual contacts with Soviet Jews and provide them with encouragement to explore their Jewish identity. Visits and the sending of letters and books to the USSR was promoted in the face of Soviet hostility. The Council also lobbied non-Jewish organisations and individuals for support. It liaised with members of parliament, trade unions, the press and a wide span of private individuals. The National Council was always careful however not to become a political anti-Soviet body.

The National Council received a Parliamentary award for services to Soviet Jewry in 1989. By then some degree of improvement in the lives of Soviets Jews had taken place following the internal Soviet reforms of the late 1980s. In December 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved and its constituent republics became independent. Consequently the National Council decided to review its role. It was decided to concentrate on work to increase Jewish cultural and religious awareness and to fight rising anti-semitism within the former USSR. Although emigration had become easier for Soviet Jews by the early 1990s the refuseniks did not disappear as some republics failed to establish emigration procedures. In 1992 the National Council renamed itself the National Council for Jews in the Former Soviet Union and embarked upon a new phase of activity.

The National Council of Labour Colleges was set up for "the education of the workers from the working class point of view, through the medium of Colleges, classes and public lectures; the co-ordination and extension of this independent working-class educational work; the issuing of leaflets, syllabuses, etc, for the assistance of class tutors and students". Originally the colleges were run by the Plebs Movement but they came to be run by the Unions and affiliated to the Labour Party. In addition, the London College was run by national bodies, whilst the provincial classes were controlled by union branches. This collection appears to be a second set of minutes, kept by J P M Millar, the General Secretary.

The National Council for One Parent Families (NCOPF) (1918-fl 2006) was originally established in Feb 1918, under the name the National Council for the Unmarried Mother and her Child (NCUMC). Its primary concern at that time was infant mortality and the welfare of unmarried mothers and their illegitimate children. The organisation was formed following a National Conference organised by the Child Welfare Council of the Social Welfare Association for London, which was held at Mansion House on 14 Feb 1918. The conference was the result of a Child Welfare Inquiry, which had been established by the Social Welfare Association in London in 1914.

The first Council meeting in Apr 1918 appointed a Chair, Hon. Secretaries and an Executive Committee. The original functions were: 1) To obtain reform of the existing Bastardy Acts and Affiliation Acts; 2) To secure the provision of adequate accommodation to meet the varying needs of mothers and babies throughout the country, with the special aim of keeping mother and child together; 3) To deal with individual enquiries from, or on behalf of, unmarried mothers.

Funds were acquired via public funding and voluntary donations. On 4 Jan 1946 the Society was incorporated.

World War Two saw a huge increase in the number of women turning to the Council for assistance. The election of a Labour government, after the war, saw the expansion of the Welfare State following the findings of the Beveridge Report. This changed the focus of the Council away from providing direct aid towards explaining the complexities of the benefit system.

The 1960s and 1970s saw the Council return to its original function as a pressure group. The change of name to the National Council for One Parent Families occurred in 1973. It had been proposed in Feb 1972 and the new name reflected the Council catering for all lone parents. With the election of a Conservative government in 1979, the Council's priorities change, a Back to Work strategy was launched that promoted employment opportunities for lone parents. In 2004 the Council aimed to promote the welfare of lone parents and their children by helping to overcome the poverty, isolation and social exclusion faced by many. In 2007 National Council for One Parent Families and Gingerbread merged to become one organisation.

The National Council of Voluntary Organisations (formerly the National Council of Social Service) grew out of the beliefs that the best way to preserve voluntary services would be if the diverse agencies came together in an overall council to eliminate confusion and overlap; and that they should work together with the newly developing statutory services. The first step in setting up the National Council was the issue in March 1919 of a memorandum from the Local Government Board with a covering letter signed by Sir Aubrey Simmons, then secretary of the Board and first chairman of the council. The memorandum recommended the formation of local councils of social service and set out the aims of a future National Council of Social Service, together with the names of members and bodies giving their support.

In 1919 the councils objectives were:

• to promote the systematic organisation of voluntary social work, nationally and locally.
• to assist in the formation in each local government area representations of both voluntary effort and statutory administration.

• to provide information for voluntary social workers.

  Captain Lionel Ellis was the only paid officer in 1919, and Professor WGS Adams took over from Aubrey Simmons as Chairman for the next 30 years. By 1924 the NCSS was soundly established and on 14 May 1928 was awarded charitable status in the High Court. In this same year the NCSS moved to its first headquarters at 26 Bedford Square, London WC1. The work of the NCSS between the wars was beset by problems, most notably the economic welfare of the countryside, rural depopulation, housing and the increasing problem of unemployment. Its answer was to establish and support the rural movement by means of Community Councils, citizens advise bureaux, support to the elderly and disabled and to provide secretariat for branches of groups such as the National Playing Fields Association.

  1969 was the Golden Jubilee of the NCSS celebrated in Guildhall with a reception attended by HM the Queen, HRH the Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh and over 900 guests. The 50th year marked a new look and reorganisation for the NCSS by the review committee concluding that the NCSS 'should be seen as one living, vigorous entity and not a federation of varied and autonomous associated bodies'. One of the most important roles of the NCSS in the 1970s was that of an information and advice resource. Their role in the rural communities by the provision of advice on all matters and their efforts continued both nationally and internationally.

  On 1st April 1980 the NCSS became the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. An extraordinary general meeting called in July 1973 discussed the name change; since the implementation of the Social Services Act in 1970 confusion had arisen between voluntary and statutory bodies. Its new aims as set down in the 1980 Annual Report were:

• to extend the involvement of voluntary organisations in responding to social issues
• to be a resource centre for voluntary organisations

• to protect the interests and independence of voluntary organisation.

  One of its key roles was to make skills, guidance and advice available to all charities and voluntary organisations as well as developing new models of social support. NCVO increased its membership by 150 in 3 years with a striking number of new members providing aid for illness or disability and furthermore opened membership to leading organisations in relevant fields of activity. In the early 1980s these were 528 members, links with 159 councils for voluntary service and 38 rural community councils. It had 8 major departments and employed 152 staff.

  In the early 1990s the NCVO established a working party to make recommendations on developing and maintaining high standards of efficiency and effectiveness within the voluntary sector. The report "Effectiveness and the Voluntary Sector" set out an agenda for action by NCVO and the wider voluntary sector - with emphasis on effectiveness in management and services within voluntary bodies. The Corporate Affiliation Scheme was launched in 1989 attracting 20 leading companies and in 1992 NCVO played a large role in the Charities Act 1992 by making representations to improve the Bill and by guiding Charities through the new law.

  In June 1992 the NCVO moved from Bedford Square to Regent's Wharf, London W1 where they remain today, continuing its role as the "voice of the voluntary sector".

The National Council of Women of Great Britain was founded in 1895 as the National Union of Women Workers. This resulted from the work of a number of women engaged in the care of girls, who realised that many of the difficulties of these girls arose from unsatisfactory working conditions. They formed themselves into small groups which became the National Union of Women Workers. In 1918 its title was formally changed to the National Council of Women of Great Britain. In 1951 it became an incorporated body governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association.

The aims of the National Council of Women of Great Britain are defined as:-

• To promote the establishment and maintenance of human rights for the people of the United Kingdom.
• To work to improve the quality of life for all.
• To secure the removal of discrimination against women and to encourage the effective participation of women in the life of the nation.
• To act as a co-ordinating body to which societies with similar aims may affiliate.

• To affiliate to the International Council of Women, forming a link with the National Councils of Women throughout the world, and to work for international peace and understanding.

  The National Council of Women is made up of regional councils each with many local branches. Representatives from all over the country attend committees considering all aspects of life. Branches, Regions and Affiliated Societies can put forward resolutions to the annual conference. Resolutions ratified by the annual conference become NCW policy and are presented to Her Majesty's Government and all other local and national relevant bodies.

The National Education Association (NEA) was formed to give effect to the resolutions of the Education Conference Committee which was held in 1888 in reaction to the report of the Cross Commission, 1886-1888. The Cross Commission was formed to look into the competing systems of education then current: School Board Schools which were supported by rates, and voluntary schools (including Church schools) which were supported only by donations and fees. The report suggested that all schools should be rate-aided.

The Association aimed to promote a "free progressive system of national education, publicly controlled and free from sectarian interest" both by publicising and advancing the School Board System and by undermining denominational and private schools. Formed in 1888 and formally constituted in 1889 under the presidency of A.J.Mundella, the NEA acted as the education sub-committee of the Liberation Society, whose aims were the disestablishment of the Church of England, the attainment of religious equality for non-conformists and the preservation of the rights of conscience.

The NEA was disbanded in 1959 and its duties taken over by the Free Church Federal Council.

National Family Mediation was founded in 1981. It co-ordinates the work of voluntary sector family mediation services in England and Wales to assist couples who are in the process of separation and divorce. NFM encourages the take-up of family mediation; promotes professional standards; carries out research, consultancy and training; organises conferences; liaises with government, the legal profession, advice agencies and other voluntary organisations; and provides information to the public.

In 1918, the following corn trade associations combined to form a national federation:- Liverpool (founded 1853); Glasgow (1855); London (1878); Hull (1888); Bristol Channel and West of England (1889); and Leith (1890). They also invited three other associations to join them - the National Association of Corn and Agricultural Merchants; the National Association of British and Irish Millers; and the Maltsters' Association of Great Britain. The federation acted as a national pressure group, representing and protecting the interests of the corn trade and providing a useful channel of communication between the trade and the government and other outside bodies. It was wound up in 1972 following the formation of the Grain and Feed Trade Association.

The Federation was established to represent inland wholesale fish merchants of Great Britain, to promote commerce and to protect the rights and interests of members.

The National Federation of Shop Workers and Clerks was formed in 1907, as an amalgamation of the Amalgamated Union of Cooperative Employees, the National Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks, and the National Union of Clerks. It was formed with the principal aims of promoting fraternisation, acting as a united group at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and supporting the policies affecting each section. The Federation was wound up in May 1914. During its lifetime the National Federation did little beyond discussing various schemes of amalgamation, but it did achieve some understanding of the need for clerical worker unions to work together for an objective.

The National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW) was formed in 1906 by Mary Macarthur. The Federation had close links with the Women's Trade Union League, with Gertrude Tuckwell serving as president of both organisations from 1908. The NFWW saw strikes as the chief means of unionising unorganised workers and probably did more than any other organisation (including trade unions) to unionise women especially during the mass strike wave of 1910-1914. The Federation was entirely unself-seeking, in that its efforts were purely for the benefit of the unions rather than its own prestige. Although its membership had risen to 20,000 by 1914, its leaders never intended that the NFWW should remain permanently as a women's union. In fact in 1921 it quietly merged with the National Union of General Workers (now the GMB). The Federation, along with many of the other women's organisations, campaigned to expose the evils of the sweated trades. Their propaganda was very effective and played a major part in inducing the Liberal government to pass the 1909 Trade Boards Act which was an attempt to fix minimum wages in certain of the most exploitative trades, usually the ones in which women predominated. (This administrative history was written by Professor Mary Davis, Centre for Trade Union Studies, London Metropolitan University c 2008.)

The National Federation of Women's Institutes (1915-fl 2008), founded in 1915, grew out of a need for a body to support women in rural communities

THE ORGANISATION

As at 2007 The National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI) consisted of all the Women's Institutes (WIs) in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The FUNCTION of NFWI was to put into effect the wishes of the members; the means by which this is done was laid down in the Constitution and Rules.

BACKGROUND TO NFWI

From 1915-1917 the Women's Institute (WI) committee of the Agricultural Organisations Society (AOS), a body funded by The Development Commission was responsible for forming the first WIs in Britain. The object of the AOS was to organise farmers into co-operative societies for the purchase of agricultural requirements and for the sale of produce but there were very few women involved in this work. John Nugent Harris, the secretary of AOS, heard about the Canadian WIs from Madge Watt who was visiting from Canada. Seeing the value of the WI movement, especially in war time, to get country women working co-operatively to increase food production, he persuaded AOS to employ Madge Watt to set up WIs. The first she started were in Wales soon followed by ones in England. AOS set up a subcommittee to oversee the WI work and appointed Lady Gertrude Denman as Chair on 3 Oct 1916. In Sep 1917 the Treasury refused the AOS a further grant for WI work, realising the movement was growing they felt it more appropriate that the funding for forming new WIs should be given to the Women's Branch of the Food Production Department of the Board of Agriculture (which also organised the Women's Land Army). Lady Denman did not wish the WIs to be taken over by a government department and negotiated an arrangement whereby the Board of Agriculture would fund the forming of WIs but the WIs, once formed, would be self-governing. Ongoing support and policymaking would be done by a separate organisation - a National Federation of Women's Institutes. On 16 Oct 1917 delegates from the 137 existing WIs were invited to a meeting at which they agreed to the setting up of the NFWI, its Constitution and Rules. They also elected a CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. This was subsequently renamed the NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. At the first meeting of the Central Committee of Management Lady Denman was elected Chair. As well as the elected members the committee included appointed representatives from various government departments that provided financial support or had similar interests to the newly formed NFWI

In 1917-1918 these representatives were: Miss Talbot OBE - Board of Agriculture; The Hon Mrs Hanford - National Union of Women Workers; Mr J Nugent Harris, Mr GF Hooper and Mrs Roland Wilkins - AOS

1918-1919 representatives: Miss Talbot CBE - Board of Agriculture; The Hon Mrs A Lyttelton DBE - Board of Agriculture; Mr S Bostock, Mr GF Hooper, - AOS; Lady Cowan - National Council of Women Workers.

1919-1921 representatives: Miss Talbot CBE - Ministry of Agriculture; The Hon Mrs A Lyttelton DBE - Ministry of Agriculture; Mr S Bostock- AOS

1921-1922: Dame Meriel Talbot - Ministry of Agriculture; The Hon Mrs A Lyttelton DBE - Ministry of Agriculture; Mr ATA Dobson - Ministry of Agriculture; Miss Purves - National Association of Landswomen; Mr S Bostock- AOS.

The National Executive Committee continued to have representative members until incorporation in 1990. For example in 1988-1989 the representative members were: Mr CJ Hancock LLB BA ALA - Department of the Environment; Dr JM Graham - Principal Medical Officer, Department of Health and Social Security; Mr J Coe - Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food; Dr D Hibbert - HMI, Department of Education.

PURPOSE OF THE NFWI

From 1915 - 1917 The WIs adopted rules based on the Canadian model and agreed that they would: "a) Study home economics; b) Provide a centre for educational and social intercourse and for all local activities; c) Encourage home and local industries; d) Develop co-operative enterprises; e) Stimulate interest in the agriculture industry"

From 1917-1919, under the Board of Agriculture, WIs concentrated on food production to help the war effort.

After the First World War ended, at the AGM in 1919, a revised form of the CONSTITUTION was agreed, which was further reviewed in 1928, 1948 and 1970. The following version was used in the 1950s and 1960s:

"CHARACTER: The Women's Institute movement is based on the spiritual ideals of fellowship, truth, tolerance and justice. All countrywomen are eligible for membership no matter what their views on religion or politics may be. The movement is non sectarian and non party-political.

OBJECTS: The main purpose of the Women's Institute movement is to improve and develop conditions of rural life. It seeks to give to all countrywomen the opportunity of working together through the Women's Institute organisation, and of putting into practice those ideals for which it stands. For the purpose of furthering the said objects, the Women's Institute shall have the power to: 1) Provide for the fuller education of countrywomen in citizenship, in public questions both national and international, in music , drama and other cultural subjects, also to secure instruction and training in all branches of agriculture, handicrafts, domestic science, health and social welfare; 2) Promote international understanding amongst countrywomen; 3) Provide a centre for social intercourse and activities; 4) Develop co-operative enterprise; 5) Receive and apply in and towards any of the above objects, and not otherwise, grants and other funds provided and sanctioned by the National Federation of Women's Institutes of England, Wales, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man (hereinafter referred to as ' the National Federation'); 6) Buy on behalf of all or any members any commodity, approved by the committee, and distribute and allot the same either gratuitously or at cost; 7) Do such other things as may be incidental or conducive to the attainment of the purpose of the Institute"

Subsequently changes were made: 1) To clarify the meaning of 'non-party political - 'This shall not be so interpreted as to prevent WIs from concerning themselves with matters of political or religious significance, provided that the views of minorities are respected and provided that the movement is never used for party political or sectarian purposes' (1971); 2) To clarify the meaning of 'countrywomen' - 'Countrywomen shall mean women living in rural areas and women living elsewhere who are interested in the promotion of the arts crafts and sciences associated with rural life and the improvement and development of conditions of rural life'.

In 1990 NFWI became Incorporated - a charitable company limited by Guarantee

MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES

'PREAMBLE: The Women's Institute movement is based on the ideals of fellowship, truth, tolerance and justice. All women who are interested in the arts, crafts, sciences and other issues associated with rural life (called countrywomen in this Memorandum of Association) may join no matter what their vies on religion or politics may be. The movement is non-sectarian and non-party political. This does not prevent WIs from concerning themselves with matters of political or religious significance, provided that the views of minorities are respected and provided that the movement is never used for party political or sectarian purposes. WIs are charitable and everything they do must be consistent with that special legal status. OBJECTS: The objects of the National Federation are to enable countrywomen to take an effective part in the improvement and development of the conditions of rural life, to advance their education in citizenship, in public questions both national and international, in music, drama and other cultural subjects, and secure instruction and training for them in all branches of agriculture, handicrafts, domestic science, health and social welfare. It exists to give all countrywomen the opportunity of working together through the Women's Institute organisation, and of putting into practice those ideals for which it stands. POWERS include: To form, assist and advise Federations; To form, assist and advise WIs; To promote international understanding; To organise conferences, course of instruction, exhibitions, lectures and other educational activities; * To publish books pamphlets reports leaflets journals films tapes and instructional matter'.

From 2000 the full Memorandum and Articles were available as a down-load from the NFWI website

From 1990 the WIs and Federations elected an Executive committee/ Board of Trustees every two years by postal ballot. In 1990 the number of Trustees was 17 plus the chair of the Wales committee ex officio and the power to co-opt up to 4 others

In 2002 a revised constitution reduced the number on the Board of Trustees to 14 including the chair of the Wales committee ex officio.

SUBCOMMITTEES

From 1917 the Central Committee of Management (subsequently the National Executive Committee and then The Board of Trustees) appointed Standing Sub-Committees to consider and make recommendations regarding areas of interest and special issues within the scope of their terms of reference. The sub-committees co-opted people with specialist knowledge to give expert advice. Their recommendations and reports were passed to the Executive Committee for decision. Ad Hoc committees, and working parties were set up from time to time to complete specific tasks.

The committee structure has changed over the years, the names of the committees have been changed but similar areas of work have been covered.

CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL

In 1919 The Consultative Council was established as a forum where the National Executive Committee and the elected Consultative Council Representatives from every Federation could meet, usually twice a year, to discuss national policy and comment on budgetary and other financial matters including (from 1976) amount and division of the annual subscriptions of members.

In 1981 this body was replaced by the National Council, made up of the National Executive Committee and the Chairs and Treasurers of the Federations. The Council received reports from the Executive Committee had the power to make recommendations to the Executive Committee by majority vote. Until 2006 it met twice a year and at the spring meeting considered resolutions submitted for the AGM and advised the Executive Committee on which ones should be placed on the final agenda.

NFWI REPRESENTATION ON OUTSIDE BODIES

From 1917 onwards NFWI has nominated members, or employees, to represent them on other bodies with similar or complimentary interests. These people were listed in the Annual Report. Also listed there were those people who served on outside bodies in a personal capacity but reported to the NFWI.

INTERNATIONAL LINKS

The Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) was established in 1933, and NFWI affiliated to it and sent delegates to Area Conferences and to Triennial meetings.

FEDERATED STRUCTURE

When sufficient WIs were formed in a County the WIs joined together to form a County Federation. As at 2007 there were 70 county and Island Federations, each with a regional office, each level of the organisation was run by a committee of elected members. The NFWI Board of Trustees was democratically elected every two years by the members.

STAFF

The first paid staff members were employed by NFWI in 1918. NFWI employed staff for the London HQ and also various specialist organisers who travelled to advise the Federations and WIs on handicrafts, agriculture and horticulture, marketing, education and general organisation matters. From 1948 NFWI employed staff at Denman College

PUBLISHING (MAGAZINES)

1917-1919 - The Landswoman - (shared with The Women's Land Army)

1919-2006 - Home and Country - a subscription magazine, published monthly

2007 - WI Life - a membership magazine published eight times a year

PUBLICATIONS

1919 NFWI Publications Department, published leaflets and booklets providing advice to members to help them run the organisation, and also of an educational nature.

1977 - WI Books Ltd, published books and leaflets for internal use but also to sell on the open market and raise funds.

WI ENTERPRISES - incorporating the publishing activities and the production of the WI magazine as well as the trading arm of NFWI, was set up to raise funds and provide benefits for members.

WI MARKETS

1919 - First Women's Institute Market started in Lewes as an outlet for surplus produce. WI Markets spread to other areas to allow members and other share holders to market the products of their gardens, kitchens and craft skills.

In 1932 NFWI received a grant from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust to expand the markets and they were formally registered as co-operatives under the Industrial Provident and Friendly Societies Act.

Neither NFWI nor the County Federations had legal control over markets but had responsibility to encourage their formation and development and to provide education in marketing for all WI members wishing to participate

By 1992 the combined annual turnover of the Markets reached £10m and in 1995 WI Markets separated from NFWI were renamed WI Country Markets and became self-financing. In 2004 WI Country Markets Ltd shareholders voted to discontinue the use of the WI initials, at the request of NFWI, and became Country Markets Ltd. (www.country-markets.co.uk)

FUNDING

1915-1917 the work of forming WIs was funded by AOS. Once formed the WIs became self funded

1917-1919 the work of forming WIs was funded by The Board of Agriculture, and grants were provided for the formation of County Federations, after which they became self funded.

1920-1927 NFWI received grants for core funding from Development Commission, the amount given gradually decreased until they stopped in 1927.

1927 onward income to run NFWI came from: share of annual membership subscriptions; grant-making bodies, educational trusts; commercial sponsors; WI Enterprises trading arm; investments; gifts, donations, and legacies.

KEY DATES IN WI HISTORY

1915 the Agricultural Organisations Society (AOS) employed Madge Watt to start WIs in Britain (Aug 1915 )

1915 Madge Watt started the first WI in Britain at Llanfair PG on Anglesey (11 Sep 1915), President : Mrs Stapleton Cotton

1915 AOS started a WI sub committee (Nov 1915)

1916 (summer) Lil Nugent Harris became secretary of the AOS WI committee

1916 (autumn) AOS invited Mrs Drage and Mrs Stapleton Cotton onto the WI sub committee and Lady Denman appointed Chairman

1917 The Treasury refused AOS a further grant for WI work (Sep 1917). Responsibility for forming WIs passed to the Women's Branch of the Food Production Department of the Board of Agriculture (who were also concerned with the Women's Land Army)

1917 first County Federation formed (Sussex on 5 Sep 1917)

1917 first Annual General Meeting of WI delegates held on 16 Oct 1917

1917 NFWI formed

1917 Lady Denman Elected Chair of Central Committee of Management

1918 NFWI exhibition and sale in Caxton Hall

1918 first training school for Voluntary County Organisers(VCOs) held Burgess Hill, Sussex (on 6 - 24 May 1918)

1918 AGM decided not to form WIs in towns

1919 Home and Country published for the first time (Mar 1919)

1919 Special General Meeting agreed a new national executive committee structure (15 Oct 1919) the AGM on 16 Oct 1919 agreed new constitution and rules for post war times

1919 first Consultative Council meeting

1919 General Endowment Fund started

1920 Grant of £10,000 made from the Development Commissioners for general organisation, with promise of continuing but decreasing grants until the movement should become self supporting

1920 Guild of Learners of Handicrafts set up

1921 Endowment fund started £12,000 raised

1921 First grant received from Development Commissioners for work with handicrafts

1922 system of annual voluntary donations to NFWI funds from County Federations on behalf of WIs started

1923 AGM decided that WI membership was open to women and girls only

1923 Formation of Welsh Counties Conference

1926 Last grant received from the Development Commissions for general organisation

1926 NFWI's claim for exemption from Income Tax allowed on appeal

1928 First National Drama Festival

1928 First report on the Constitution

1932 AGM decided that fares of all delegates to the meeting should be pooled

1932 Carnegie United Kingdom Trust (CUKT) grant awarded for 3 years to organise and increase WI Co-operative markets

1933 Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) started

1939 First grant from the Development Commissioners for agricultural work

1939 Produce Guild Formed

1940 Questionnaire to WIs about experiences with housing evacuees, resulting in the report 'Town Children through Country eyes'

1940 First grant from Ministry of Food, NFWI began to administer the Ministry's fruit preservation scheme

1945 AGM instructed NFWI executive committee to establish a Women's Institute College

1946 Ministry of Food/NFWI preservation scheme ended

1946 NFWI Combined Arts Festival

1946 CUKT grant awarded to start WIs in the Channel Islands

1947 'Operation Produce' launched

1947 First WI in the Channel Islands established

1948 Denman College opened (24 Sep 1948)

1948 First grant received from the Ministry of Education of the 'development of liberal education for women'

1948 'Home Produce' Exhibition

1948 Second report on the Constitution

1949 First WI formed in the Isle of Man

1949 Federation of Wales committee set up

1950 Jersey and Guernsey Federations affiliated to NFWI

1950 National Singing Festival - 'Folk Songs of the Four Seasons' by Ralph Vaughan Williams - Albert Hall

1951 Isle of Man Federation affiliated to NFWI

1951 Denman College Endowment Fund established

1951 First WI Market Place at the Ideal Home Exhibition

1952 Crafts Exhibition at Victoria and Albert Museum

1955 AGM decision led to formation of Keep Britain Tidy Group

1957 National Drama Festival - 'Out of this Wood' commissioned Robert Gittins

1961 AGM pledges WI support for Freedom from Hunger Campaign

1961 WI Market Place at the Ideal Homes Exhibition

1962 NFWI 'Country Feasts and Festivals' competition at the Dairy Show

1963 National Art Exhibition 'Painting for Pleasure' at the Galleries of the Federation of British Artists

1965 WI Golden Jubilee celebrated

1965 AGM - rule limiting the formation of WIs to places with a population of under 4,000 rescinded

1968 National appeal for half a million pounds launched, to improve the financial position of NFWI

1969 'The Brilliant and the Dark' specially commissioned operatic sequence for women's voices by Malcolm Williamson and Ursula Vaughan Williams Performed in the Albert Hall by WI members

1969 National appeal reached target

1970 Third report on the Constitution

1970 CUKT grant for three year 'Town and Country Project'

1970 Queen Mother opened the new Teaching Centre at Denman College

1971 AGM agreed change to interpretation of the non-party political and non-sectarian rules

1971 Olive Farquharson elected world president of ACWW

1972 'This Green and Pleasant Land?' exhibition at Ideal Homes Exhibition at Olympia

1972 Produce and Handicraft Guilds ceased, to enable all WI members to share these activities without additional payment

1974 Local Government reorganisation of boundaries and NFWI decided to realign Federation boundaries

1975 WI Diamond Jubilee celebrated

1975 'Tomorrow's Heirlooms' exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute

1975 Avon and West Midlands, new Federations affiliated to NFWI

1976 AGM decided to allow the amount and division of the annual subscription to be decided in future by NFWI executive committee in consultation with Consultative Council representatives

1977 Humberside Federation affiliated to NFWI

1977 WI Book Ltd registered as a privately owned company

1978 Tyne and Wear north and South Federations affiliated to NFWI

1979 The Queen opened the Home Economics Centre at Denman College

1980 National Drama Festival 'Scene 80' finals at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Stratford on Avon

1980 NFWI Wales office opened in Cardiff

1981 Consultative Council disbanded and National Council formed

1982 'Early one Morning' composed by Antony Hopkins performed by WI choirs.

1983 WI Promotion 'Women in the Community' launched

1983 Cleveland, East Yorkshire, North Yorkshire East, North Yorkshire West, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire Federations affiliated to NFWI

1984 'WI Life and Leisure' Exhibition at Olympia

1985 £1 million appeal launched for essential repairs to Denman College and to set up .

1988 WI designed 'Countrywoman's Garden' won gold medal and the Wilkinson's sword at the Chelsea Flower Show

1990 NFWI became incorporated (company limited by Guarantee)

1990 NFWI HQ moved to Fulham;

1991 First Triennial General Meeting - Birmingham

1993 NFWI/NFU conference - 'Caring for the Countryside'

1994 'Rural Carers' conference

1995 WI Markets became independent of NFWI as 'Country Markets''

1998 'Pathway to the 21st century' launched

1999 'The Changing Village' published

2000 Prime minister Tony Blair spoke at AGM

2000 'Craft Spectacular' exhibition at Tatton Park, Cheshire

2000 NFWI web site launched

2002 'What women want' campaign

2003 'Chemicals and Health' campaign

2004 NFWI/National Needlework Archive project to record WI textiles

2004 NFWI archives deposited at The Women's Library

2005 '90@90' report published

MEMBERSHIP

Details of membership 1915-2005 are below. The year is given, followed by the number of WIs and then the total number of members:

1915 / 12

1916 / 37

1917 / 187 / 5,198

1918 / 773 / 12,007

1919 / 1,405 / 55,015

1920 / 1,914 / 99,418

1930 / 4,654 / 291,570

1939 / 5,720 / 331,600

1943 / 5,825 / 287,900

1947 / 6,682 / 379,000

1950 / 7,505 / 446,675

1954 / 8,178 / 467,000

1955 / 8,265 / 462,500

1956 / 8,314 / 457,000 (peak)

1960 / 8,489 / 444,737

1970 / 9,110 / 436,002

1981 / 9,306 (peak)

1985 / 9,242 / 353,502

1994 / 8,496 / 258,852

1997 / 8,047 / 257,700

2000 / 7,000 / 220,000

2005 / 6,800 / 211,000